Vasiliy Sukhotaev, about myself

Vasiliy talks about himself and the Kalmyk language: I was born in the Novosibirsk oblast in 1952. After returning to Kalmykia in 1958, I finished school and went to serve in the Soviet Army stationed in Hungary. Afterwards, I graduated from Kalmyk State University, and went on to work on the state farm Ergeninsky in Arshan-Zelmen. I also worked as Secretary of the Party Committee in the state farm Steppe and later at the Regional Party Committee in Elista. I didn't really like my job. From Elista I moved to Chagorta where I headed a local state farm. By that time, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov was President of Kalmykia. Before I was put in charge of it, it was a loss-making farm. I began to sell horses to many countries, 11 in total. With the profit that I made I built water pipes and repaired the road. Kirsan invited me to work for his government. After working there for some time, I moved to the village of Arshan-Zelmen. I have three sons and four grandsons. In secondary school I wrote poetry, but I did not show it to anyone. Later I came to a realization that I should not be hiding from people what I had written, and I decided to publish. To date, I have published five books. Several years ago I was accepted into the Union of Writers of Russia. In our rayon we have young people who write both in Kalmyk and Russian well. Some of them are shy as I once was myself. I give them advice and encourage them to carry on writing. Nowadays, Kalmyks rarely write in their native language. If we lose our language, Kalmykia will lose its face. No language, no nation. Sponsored by Arcadia Fund, a charitable fund of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwi